Late last year I asked for donations from my friends so that I could replace the carpet in the classroom with artificial turf. I set up a Facebook page and my friends donated money. Over a few weeks we raised $800 (click here to read more about this). Unfortunately due to insurance reasons, we couldn't make this happen. So I decided to do something similar with the annex and create what I call, "the green room."
The idea for greenery first came from students, who suggested that we get plants in the classroom. You can see this on our brainstorming wall that I sent out to students before I started the project. Of course it would have been easier to go with artificial plants, but research shows that plants increase attention and working memory. This was something I could not pass up.
Here is what the annex looked like. We forgot to take a proper 'before' shot before we cleared the rug and started getting ready, but you get the idea:
The idea for greenery first came from students, who suggested that we get plants in the classroom. You can see this on our brainstorming wall that I sent out to students before I started the project. Of course it would have been easier to go with artificial plants, but research shows that plants increase attention and working memory. This was something I could not pass up.
Here is what the annex looked like. We forgot to take a proper 'before' shot before we cleared the rug and started getting ready, but you get the idea:
I consulted with some friends on how I was going to make this a green room. These are some things we came up with:
One of staff members, Daniel French, suggested making it look similar to the Jungle Room at Elvis Presley's Graceland.
- artificial vines around the walls leading inside the classroom (as if the vines are bursting in)
- plants
- green walls/ nature wallpaper
One of staff members, Daniel French, suggested making it look similar to the Jungle Room at Elvis Presley's Graceland.
From there I decided that I had to get a green rug that looked like grass. This for me, compensated for the artificial turf we were not able to get. If I was to get a green rug, then I couldn't have green walls! So I compromised (with myself) and settled for green rug and white walls. I thought the white would give it a clean, crisp look, which would also help to bring out the green.
Anyway I bought the rug first. I found this at Ikea (of course!). Check it out:
Anyway I bought the rug first. I found this at Ikea (of course!). Check it out:
Then I bought white paint and started painting the walls. You can already see a huge difference:
The next thing I had to think about was the plants. I thought about hanging plants from the ceiling, putting pots around the room and a whole lot of other things. Then I stumbled across something new that people have been doing lately... vertical plant walls.
The hardest thing to decide was how to do this. There were a number of vertical plant makers online and I found a few at Bunnings and Flower Power, but they were too small. I wanted it to fill the wall on the right hand side.
I have always like the look of lattice so I decided that I would install that to the wall. Of course this is also difficult, being that we are working with a demountable. The wall itself was already falling apart! It is very thin and has been breaking due to water leaking.
I called on one of the staff members to help out, Daniel French. He screwed 3 planks of wood to the wall to give the lattice the extra support. 2 of these pieces of wood were already there and used as umbrella racks. He simply took these off and repositioned them.
The hardest thing to decide was how to do this. There were a number of vertical plant makers online and I found a few at Bunnings and Flower Power, but they were too small. I wanted it to fill the wall on the right hand side.
I have always like the look of lattice so I decided that I would install that to the wall. Of course this is also difficult, being that we are working with a demountable. The wall itself was already falling apart! It is very thin and has been breaking due to water leaking.
I called on one of the staff members to help out, Daniel French. He screwed 3 planks of wood to the wall to give the lattice the extra support. 2 of these pieces of wood were already there and used as umbrella racks. He simply took these off and repositioned them.
The next step was to buy plants and the artificial vines. This took a good week out of the holidays. The vines I found easily from the dollar store (found in most Westfield centres). For the plants I went to Flower Power and a couple local nurseries. I had to, of course, try to find plants that could survive indoors with only the sunlight from the window/ entrance. I also had to ensure that these plants could survive in humid conditions, as it gets pretty hot in the demountable. For me this was a huge learning curve, as I had never grown or looked after plants! Anyway I ended up purchasing these plants below. I bought three of each.
You're probably thinking right now, well that's great, but what about the state of the wall? Surely if water leaks on it often it will end up falling apart? Well I thought about that too. If I had just installed one of those vertical planters that they sold online, then that would take care of that since they have their own internal watering system.
An ex-student of mine had been keeping track of the project through Facebook. She suggested that I purchase these hanging pots from Bunnings which come with a water saving base. This way we could just untwist the base and empty the water when we need to. This was a great idea and they were relatively cheap too! See below:
An ex-student of mine had been keeping track of the project through Facebook. She suggested that I purchase these hanging pots from Bunnings which come with a water saving base. This way we could just untwist the base and empty the water when we need to. This was a great idea and they were relatively cheap too! See below:
After changing all the plants over to these pots (and filling each pot with the right soil for each plant) we finally proceeded to hang them on the wall. We also spread the artificial vines over the top. This was my proudest moment! I could not be happier with how it turned out.
The next thing we did was put up our frames that we had purchased from Reverse Garbage for a few dollars each. I was really excited about this as this one of the first things we had put in our plan, but didn't end up fitting in with the theme of the classroom. This is our "frame wall," and we plan to use it for student work or to perhaps frame the names of people who contributed to the classroom. What do you think we should do?
The final thing we did was lay out the rug and spread some more vines over the walls. We are going to add some more things to the walls (as they are a little bare at the moment) but we are still deciding. Thanks to our principal, we were able to take these cubed sofas from another room in the school that had been over-furnished. I will upload another post soon once we finish with the walls. Anyway here it is... the green room!